What it is
Yoga therapy borrows from yoga's toolkit to build a practice around one person's circumstances: limited mobility, a return to movement after a break, stiffness from desk work. The question is not how a pose looks but what this body needs today.
That is why there is no single sequence. A teacher begins by asking about your health and goals, then picks a handful of simple exercises and explains why each one is there.
What a class looks like
Expect to start with a conversation: what is bothering you, what your doctor has advised, which movements feel hard. After that comes a short set of exercises at a slow pace, with plenty of pauses and explanation.
Breathing stays quiet and even, and every movement stays inside a comfortable range. Chairs, bolsters and blankets are common. Groups are small, and a session usually lasts an hour to ninety minutes.
Who it is for and what it offers
People choose this format when a regular group class feels too fast or too general: after a long break, when movement is limited, or when they simply want an unhurried way back into practice.
One important point: yoga does not replace treatment and cannot diagnose anything. Talk to your doctor before you start, and tell the teacher plainly about your condition, any advice you have been given and anything that worries you. If an exercise hurts, step out of it without apology.
What changes in sensation and wellbeing
Attention here goes to telling sensations apart: is this tension or just unfamiliar effort, what eases on the exhale, how does breathing change when you rush. Teachers often ask you to describe what you feel in words, which makes the sensations clearer.
Over time you notice your body's signals earlier, before they turn loud: tiredness in the lower back, a clamp in the shoulders. That helps you adjust the load calmly, pick a fitting movement and rest in good time.
How it differs from similar styles
Restorative yoga uses props mainly so you can rest in a few supported shapes; yoga therapy chooses movements to answer your particular question. Hatha shares the unhurried pace, but a hatha class follows one plan for the whole group, while in yoga therapy each person may work on something different.
Senior yoga and postnatal yoga are gentle too, yet they are organised around a stage of life. Yoga therapy starts from your own request, whatever your age.
Class etiquette
Bring your questions and, if you wish, notes or advice from your doctor. Tell the teacher about injuries, operations, medication, blood pressure or anything else that could affect your practice.
Wear soft clothes that do not restrict movement, and pack socks for the lying-down parts. Mats, blankets and bolsters are often provided, but ask in advance. If an exercise hurts, say so and drop it: discomfort is information, and it outranks any goal. Leave some slack in your schedule, because the opening conversation should not be rushed.
Finding a class in Aura
To find yoga therapy, open the map or the list of classes in Aura, a Telegram Mini App, and filter by style; every class states its style.
Teachers select this direction in their profile and publish their own classes, so read the description to see what kinds of requests the teacher works with before you book.
In practical form this is mindfulness: listening to yourself calmly and choosing a sensible response.
